Perspectives | the Art of John Kiley

perspectives the Art of John Kiley

When the blackbird flew out of sight, It marked the edge Of one of many circles. ~ Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Like the poetry of Wallace Stevens, the sculptures by artist John Kiley exercise perspectivism, illustrating that there are various viewpoints in which to experience a given object, philosophy, or situation. We continue to be intrigued by John’s journey into the poetry of form. With each new body of work he presents, we are impressed by the confidence of one who has a firm grasp on the understanding of design and composition that brings his work into the realm of abstract sculpture. We invite you to experience the beauty and elegance of John Kiley’s art.

Jim Schantz and Kim Saul Schantz Galleries

Opaque Interior Eclipse 15 x 13 x 13"

perspectives

the art of John Kiley

John Kiley’s work celebrates the anatomy and multiplicity of form. Glass is blown in elliptical or oblong shapes then incised with cutouts and passageways to reveal internal components and overlapping configurations. Between the sphere’s soft roundness and the cleavage’s hard edges, light revels in infinite motion. Sightlines open and close through lens-like holes and shift with the subtle movement of the viewer’s gaze. By deconstructing the form and externalizing its inner parts, Kiley challenges the traditional view of beauty as that which is pristine and complete.

Kiley not only questions which is more beautiful—the whole or its parts, the inside or the outside, negative or positive space, the light, the shadow, or the reflection— but posits that it is the interaction of all of these characteristics that results in the beautiful sum.

Even in his creative process, Kiley demonstrates how the different elements of the sculpture work in concert. He constructs each piece in separate sections then focuses on how the sections fuse together and how the membranes that connect them can be passageways to enhanced visual experience. Thin bases support the sculptures at precarious angles, opening the undersides as additional entry points for looking. Curved Vertical Peak is composed of closely-related but distinctive warm colors to highlight the separate sections and emphasize the coming together of elements. Two colors become myriad as they optically meld with one another at different angles, at times a dark and inky purple-red, at others a fiery reddishorange, and at others a pure tangerine. Optic Curved Ellipse, built of similar purple and orange vertical sections, flows like an infinite Mobius strip.

In 2008, Kiley was doing a week-long residency at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA when he acknowledged a preference for transparent glass because it optimizes the angles and offers the most views of color and light. In recent works like Opaque Interior Eclipse and Opaque Overlap, Kiley experiments with how these characteristics interact differently when the glass is not see-through. A distinction develops between the exterior, such as in Eclipse’s glossy obsidian cylinder, and the interior, with its primary yellow and blue coloration. As with his earlier work, the experience of viewing these opaque pieces emphasizes how visual perception is affected by how we occupy space. If we look directly through the tunnel of Eclipse, it will appear perfectly round and the shadows in the inner cylinder will be minimized. As we move around the sculpture we experience a lunar-like waxing

and waning of the circle and a subsequent shifting of the shadows created inside.

Much of glass art derives from the material - how its technical capacities drive form, how its aesthetic tendencies evoke style, and how the challenge of perfecting it leads to the kind of experimentation and innovation that this shift to opaque glass represents. Kiley’s carefully edited forms—simple in appearance but complex in skill and thought—are open windows to the universe of glass and a revelation on the beauty of the medium and its construction.

Curved Vertical Peak 18 x 11 x 11�

Opaque Overlap 12 x 15 x 14"

Clear Leaning Overlap 13.5 x 10.5 x 13.5�

Sound 16 x 14 x 4"

Rising Pair 14 x 16 x 5"

Oblong Intersection 11 x 21 x 11"

Wedge Overlap 9.5 x 9.5 x 5.5�

Leaning Passage 6.5 x 14.5 x 14.5�

Optic Curved Eclipse 3 x 11 x 13”

Open Vertical Ring 17 x 9 x 9�

Conical Shell 13.5x13x13.5

Emerald Nest 14x11x11

john kiley A native of Seattle, Washington, John Kiley began blowing glass professionally in 1992, at the age of nineteen. He was educated at The Pilchuck Glass School, and Penland School of Crafts.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS “Fertile Ground” The Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA Solo show “The Space Within” – Traver Gallery, Seattle WA Best in Show/Peoples Choice Award – The Museum of Glass - Red Hot Auction, Tacoma, WA Artist In residence – The Museum of Glass - Tacoma, WA Group Exhibition, Schantz Galleries, Stockbridge, MA Best in show - Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass-Hawk Gallery & O.S.U., Columbus, OH Featured Artist - The Museum of Glass-Tacoma, WA PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Glass Director The Schack Art Center Everett, WA Lino Tagliapietra Inc. Seattle, WA - Team Coordinator/ Principal Assistant to Lino Tagliapietra Seattle Batch Inc. Seattle, WA - Owner Dante Marioni - One of two regular glass assistants to Dante Marioni in his studio.

Chihuly Studio, Inc. Seattle, WA - Glassblower/Gaffer – Only glassblower to work in all venues for the “Chihuly Over Venice” Project, including Finland, Ireland, Mexico, and Italy.

Promoted to Gaffer at the age of 21.

Benjamin Moore, Inc Seattle, WA - Glassblower 1993-1994 The Glass Eye Studio Seattle, WA - Glassblower/Coldworker

2012 Schantz Galleries Publications Photos: Jeff Curtis Essay: Jeanne Koles Design: Kim Saul images copyright John Kiley

Schantz Galleries c o n t e m p o r a r y

3 Elm Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts www.schantzgalleries.com 413-298-3044

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